Nothing Familiar

Reluctant Familiar Mysteries Book 4

Fighting powerful magical forces that threaten to upend her world, LeeAnn is alone and overwhelmed, and she’s running out of time to save the ones she loves.

LeeAnn’s life is taking a nasty turn. There are forces at work which are determined to expose the magic community to humans. One of LA’s closest allies hovers on the edge of death. Grandmama Celeste has disappeared and, for the first time since LA’s known her, isn’t responding to pleas for help. To make things worse, LA’s best friend, Deg, is attacked by Wraiths, and the healers aren’t sure they can cure him.

LA soon finds herself on a journey to Underworld…traveling to Hades in search of a rare flower that’s closely guarded by Wraiths. The journey is long―fraught with danger―and LA must trust someone who hasn’t always been trustworthy for its success.

But her challenges haven’t yet begun. Her world continues to burn.

Will LA be able to dispel the stigma of her own mistakes? Or will her friends pay the ultimate price as she gives herself over to the evil swirling around them all?

More from this series

Praise for Nothing Familiar

DianaRaven

Sam Cheever's done it again, another relaxing, action packed magical mystery tour. Nothing Familiar follows up shortly after the events in Familiar Hijinks. Ms. Cheever's vivid descriptions of people, places and the unexplainable has you feeling like you are right alongside our heroes.

This story warms up then hits the door running; fast paced and action packed, the story twists and turns until the last page.

I'm giving five stars to this "cozy" paranormal mystery. I'm anxiously waiting for the next installment - just have to find out more about LA, her friends and Aunt Trudy and, gone-but-not-forgotten Grandmother Celeste.

Kandice C.

I found this book to be very enjoyable. It has a great combination of mystery, suspense and a little romance. I am hoping that there will be more in this series.

Read an Excerpt

I turned the lid on the potion jar and yelled, “Now!” sending energy into the bubbling gray potion and throwing the jar as hard as I could into the air.

I swung away, my fingers dancing on a spell that would immobilize the Fairies long enough for me to end them.

The potion ignited in a flash of white light as I hit the ground. I heard the grunts of the others as they threw themselves to the rocky ground and then the soft, plop, plop, plop of the stunned Fairies as they fell.

Several of them landed on me, and I suffered a painful stab in the back of the arm as one of their blades found my flesh when it fell.

I climbed to my feet, groaning. Everything hurt. I looked around and saw Brock, Trudy, and the Trolls pushing off the ground.

Well, all but one Troll.

Deergart wobbled on his feet, his wide face an unmoving mask as he oh-so-slowly toppled forward, crunching a pile of stunned Fairies beneath his heavy body.

He was going to be really ticked when he came to.

“Incoming!” Brock yelled.

I heard the roar in the sky that told me the Fairies who’d been waiting above us were on the move. My gaze shot to the jar of magic I’d prepped to take them down. I realized I would never reach it in time. I took off running just as the first wave of Fairies hit, teeth bared and swords flaring against the darkness.

I managed to send a power arrow into two of them as they dived toward me, but a third sunk its teeth into my shoulder and shook its head like a dog.

I screamed, spinning as I tried to dislodge the nasty bug.

Blood ran in warm rivulets down my arm, and my vision turned gray from the pain.

The Fairy was too close for me to hit it with an energy jolt. In sheer desperation, I slammed my shoulder into a tree, shrieking in agony as the impact made the thing’s teeth rip deeper into me. But the Fairy released me upon impact. I wrapped my fingers around its throat and threw it as hard as I could against the tree, hitting it with magic as it slid to the ground.

There was a low-level hum in the air. It vibrated in my chest and made my pulse spike with nerves. At first, I thought it was from the Fairies’ wings, but the cadence wasn’t right. The sound grew as I stumbled toward my potion, digging into my nerves like razor-sharp blades.

The Fairies’ mouths were open and they were singing the vibrations on the air like a song.

The sound rattled me, made me so jumpy the slightest movement had me leaping sideways, shooting energy haphazardly around the space.

With a roar of half anger and half irrational fear, I slashed my way to the potion and dropped down to my knees beside it.

I pulled energy into my fingertips and prepared to send it into the potion, igniting the killing magic inside.

But something slammed into me, sending me to the ground. I was flattened under an object that felt like a boulder and smelled like a field of freshly-mown grass.

One of Deergart’s Trolls had apparently succumbed to the vibrations.

Warm blood ran down my cheek, and I was pretty sure it wasn’t mine. Gasping for breath, I shoved at the unconscious Troll, but he wasn’t moving.

With a growing sense of terror, I looked up to find several Fairies hovering above me, their terrifying teeth gleaming red in the light of their deadly swords.